Neighbors suing to stop car-crushing firm

NEW HAMPTON — The fight against a proposed auto recycling business is going to court as neighbors challenge a zoning board decision on the project.

Heather Yakin

NEW HAMPTON — The fight against a proposed auto recycling business is going to court as neighbors challenge a zoning board decision on the project.

Five people whose properties abut the Dolsontown Road site have filed suit, arguing that the Wawayanda Zoning Board of appeals overstepped its decision-making boundaries and rubber-stamped a variance requested by Brookfield Environmental Management.

On May 15, the ZBA ruled that the car-crusher would meet the town definition of an industrial use, and voted unanimously to allow six pieces of equipment that exceed the zone's current 35-foot height limit. The suit asks Orange County state Supreme Court to nullify those approvals.

Jay Myrow, the neighbors' lawyer, says the ZBA disregarded the state environmental review process, and that the town building inspector is the one who must rule on whether a project fits the zoning.

"It's a logical and orderly process, and it wasn't followed," he said. "These are relatively glaring procedural problems."

ZBA Chairman Rich Onorati declined comment.

Brookfield owner Tom Malone says his company plans to defend the suit and continue moving forward with the project.

Myrow's clients have been allied with Concerned Citizens of Wawayanda, a grass-roots group that opposes Brookfield. The group opposes what it views as the Town Board's pro-business agenda. That includes a recent proposal to raise truck weight limits on Dolsontown and other local roads. The citizens group and Myrow argue that Brookfield fits the description of a junk yard. Junk yards are banned in Wawayanda.

And there may be other opponents to the project, working behind the scenes.

Rich Zito, owner of Sonny Zito Recycling in Slate Hill, says two competitors — one local, one from upstate — approached him a few months ago about Brookfield. Zito claims they wanted him to —¦ chip in $5,000 for a lobbyist."